This easy crockpot chili recipe is a hearty and flavorful meal packed with lean ground beef, beans, and roasted tomatoes. Perfect for a busy weeknight dinner, it’s a protein-packed recipe that’s easy to prepare and makes even better leftovers. Don’t forget the cornbread!
Why I Love This Slow Cooker Chili Recipe
On a site filled with easy dinner ideas, this one really takes the cake. I don’t know if it gets more tried and true than Crockpot chili! This set it and forget it recipe has been in our family for years and has never failed us. You know those crazy busy weeknights when everyone’s hungry and you need something easy, dependable and filling on the table? This slow cooker chili recipe is exactly what you are looking for!
- Easy Prep: You can do the prep the night before or in just a few minutes in the morning. Just brown the meat and then everything goes into the Crockpot. It’s so simple!
- Budget Friendly: With the rising costs of groceries these days, it’s getting harder and harder to find affordable recipes for the whole family. This crockpot chili recipe feeds a crowd and uses simple ingredients that won’t break the bank!
- Set It And Forget It: We love that this slow cooker chili slowly simmers all day, so it’s ready to serve when we walk in the door from a busy day.
Calling all Crockpot chili lovers! Get your fix with even more easy recipes like this Crockpot chili mac and cheese, hearty Crockpot chicken chili and Crockpot turkey chili.
Key Ingredients
If you’re anything like us, there’s a very big possibility that you have everything (or almost everything) you need to make this homemade crockpot chili recipe in your kitchen right now. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Ground Beef: I used lean ground beef (90/10) so that the chili is less greasy. However, you can use any kind of ground meat you have on hand. If it’s a fattier cut, make sure to drain any excess grease before adding it to the slow cooker.
- Bell Pepper: Red, orange, and yellow will add some sweetness to the chili. Green bell peppers have a stronger flavor.
- Worcestershire Sauce: This adds a little salty and umami flavor to the chili which is a sweet earthy flavor that is so delicious! You can also use a dash of soy sauce if you don’t have Worcestershire.
- Chili Seasoning: Use our homemade chili seasoning recipe for the very best flavor!
- Tomatoes: We used fire-roasted tomatoes with green chilis for a little kick, but you can also use two cans of Rotel instead.
Can You Put Raw Beef in a Slow Cooker?
While some may say that you can put raw beef in a slow cooker, we don’t recommend it. And it’s mostly because you’re going to get the best flavor when you sear meat before slow cooking it. Also, the texture of the beef is much different if you put it in the Crockpot raw (think pureed and more like a sloppy joe).
Some slow cookers now have a function where you can sear the meat right in that appliance. Which is great because saves you a pan! But if you don’t have that function, we highly recommend browning the beef on the stovetop before adding it to the slow cooker.
How to Make Crockpot Chili
This easy Crockpot chili comes together with easy to follow steps and basic ingredients. Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions.
- First, brown the meat. You’ll do this in a skillet on the stovetop, unless your slow cooker has a browning function. Drain excess grease if needed.
- Stir in the peppers, onions, and garlic. You don’t need to cook them for long, just about 3 minutes should be enough to soften them up and release their natural flavors.
- Add the all ingredients to the slow cooker. Once the beans, broth, seasonings, tomatoes, and tomato sauce are in the Crockpot, you can add the ground beef mixture.
- Slow cook the chili. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 6 hours. I think the chili gets the best depth of flavor when it slowly simmers all day allowing the flavors to meld together.
- Serve with your favorite toppings! Add some red chili flakes at the end if you’d like a little kick. And then don’t forget to add your favorite toppings like cheese, sour cream, and crunchy Frito chips.
Cook’s Tips and Variation
- Swap the meat: Use ground turkey or chicken for an even leaner chili recipe.
- Spice it up: Add diced jalapeño peppers to the ground beef mixture with the other peppers and onions for an extra kick. Or, you can swap the canned fire roasted tomatoes for two cans of hot or extra hot Rotel to really pump up the heat!
- Be patient and don’t be tempted to lift the lid! We promise you want to leave that chili alone while it’s cooking. It’s working its magic and you want to leave all of that heat and delicious flavor in the pot while the slow cooker is one.
- Thicken the chili: If you’d like your chili to be thicker and a little less brothy, add a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up. Whisk to combine 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into 2 tablespoons of water (or broth removed from the slow cooker). Stir the cornstarch mixture back into the crockpot chili and turn the heat to high for 10 minutes.
What to Serve with Crockpot Chili
- Make a chili bar with toppings and cornbread waffles. Having a party? Set out all of the toppings in small bowls and bake some easy and cheesy Jiffy cornbread or my favorite beer bread and everyone can help themselves. For a fall themed twist, try this sweet potato cornbread instead!
- Toppings: Shredded cheese, sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt), chopped onions, hot sauce and crunchy corn chips, like Fritos, are all wonderful choices!
- Mac and Cheese: We love a gooey side of mac and cheese with our chili. Or you can go all out and make out chili mac.
- Potatoes: Chili makes a great topping for baked potatoes. You can also serve it on top of baked sweet potatoes, which is my favorite pairing!
Crockpot Chili
Ingredients
- 1 ½ to 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup chili seasoning
- 1 (14.5 oz) can fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies, do not drain
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 (15.5 oz) can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15.5 oz) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
Optional Toppings:
- Shredded cheese
- Sour Cream
- Chopped onions
- Hot sauce
- Fritos
Instructions
- In a medium size skillet, brown the ground beef and break it apart as it cooks. If there is a lot of grease drain off most of the grease before continuing.
- Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook an additional 3 minutes or until the onion is translucent.
- Carefully add the ground beef mixture to the crockpot. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, chili seasoning, fire roasted tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans and beef broth. Stir until well combined.
- Cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high 4 to 6 hours. Taste and add crushed red pepper flakes if you would like extra heat. Serve warm with all your favorite toppings! I like to cook this chili on low for at least 6 hours to allow the flavors to meld together and flavors to deepen. If you would like to thicken the chili, read notes below.
I’m not seeing the option to adjust the servings for the ingredients. Would you be able to adjust this for 20 servings? Thank you!
Hi Cara! If you hit the print button (in the recipe card, right below the photo) it will take you to the print page where you can easily adjust the servings to however many you would like to feed and it will adjust the ingredient amounts. Hope this helps!